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National market update

First-time Buyers Steer Existing-Home Sales Higher in September

WASHINGTON (October 20, 2016) — Existing-home sales rebounded strongly in September and were propelled by sales from first-time buyers reaching a 34 percent share, which is a high not seen in over four years, according to the National Association of Realtors®. All major regions saw an increase in closings last month, and distressed sales fell to a new low of 4 percent of the market.

Homes For Sale: Ghosts Included

Some home sellers and real estate professionals are using Halloween to market the "haunted home” reputation of their listing. And for fodder, here are some of the spookiest listings for sale across the country, according to TopTenRealEstateDeals.com

Existing home median price (September)

Housing Starts (September)

New home sales (August)

National economic indicators

Home ownership

3rd Quarter 2016

63.5%

3rd Quarter 2015

63.7%

The homeownership rate of 63.5 percent was 0.2 percentage points (+/-0.5)* lower than the third quarter 2015 rate (63.7 percent) and 0.6 percentage points (+/-0.5)* high than the second quarter 2016 rate(62.9 percent).

New home sales

Sept 2016

+3.1%

Aug 2016

-7.6%

Sales of new single-family houses in September 2016 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 593,000, according to estimates released jointly today by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. This is 3.1 percent (±16.2%)* above the revised August rate of 575,000 and is 29.8 percent (±23.4%) above the September 2015 estimate of 457,000.

Source: U.S. CENSUS BUREAU

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Regional market updates

View market statistics for your region.

Click on the links below to view data from two different industry sources. Choose information on local prices & state sales from any of 178 metropolitan housing markets prepared by the National Association of REALTORS® or information on sales & price activity from local area markets in 25 states prepared by Clarus MarketMetrics.

Home Ownership matters…to people, to communities, and to America. Why? • For every two homes sold, one job is created in the U.S. • Each purchase generates as much as $60,000 in economic activity over time. Read more

Buying is now cheaper than renting in 74 percent of the nation’s largest cities. Low home prices and “rock-bottom” interest rates as well as tax advantages of homeownership are the reasons why it’s now cheaper to BUY a 2-bdrm home than to rent one. Check out this CNN Money article with the details. Read more

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Consumer tips & hot properties

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Housing Trends eNewsletter is filled with U.S. Census Bureau key market indicators, consumer videos, blogs, a real estate glossary, mortgage rates and calculators, consumer articles, real estate radio, realtor.com® local community reports and local and national real estate sales and price activity provided by local MLSs and the National Association of REALTORS®.

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